Systems and methods for displaying advertising and other information on athletic surfaces

ABSTRACT

A system for displaying information on a basketball court, boxing ring or other athletic surface. The system includes: a plurality of light arrays configured to be embedded in a top layer of the athletic surface and oriented to emit light upwards through the athletic surface; and a control system for selectively controlling activation of the light arrays to display advertising and other information in the athletic surface.

BACKGROUND

Basketball courts, tennis courts, boxing rings, mixed martial arts (MMA)rings, and other indoor and outdoor athletic surfaces typically havescoreboards or other displays for displaying team names, scores, timeperiods and other information. Such scoreboards are typically hung orotherwise mounted above or alongside the athletic surfaces and cantherefore partially block spectators' views of the athletic surfaces.Viewing the scoreboards also diverts the spectators' attention away fromthe action occurring on the athletic surfaces. Accordingly, there is aneed for an improved system and method for displaying scores and otherinformation associated with a game, match, bout, or other activityoccurring on an athletic surface.

Advertising is also frequently displayed during athletic events. Theadvertising may be displayed on the above-described scoreboards and/ormay be painted or otherwise adhered directly to the athletic surfaces.When the advertising is displayed on scoreboards, it further diverts thespectators' attention from the action occurring on the athleticsurfaces. When the advertising is applied directly to the athleticsurfaces, it often becomes worn and faded and is difficult and costly toreplace with new advertising. Such advertising is also static anddoesn't capture viewers' attention and is too costly for many companiesto afford, especially for major league sports and popular collegesports. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system and methodfor displaying advertisements at athletic events.

SUMMARY

The present invention solves the above-described problems and provides adistinct advance in the art of systems and methods for displaying teamnames, scores, advertisements, and other information on basketballcourts, tennis court, boxing rings, mixed martial arts (MMA) rings, andother indoor and outdoor athletic surfaces.

One embodiment of the invention is a display system that broadlycomprises a plurality of light arrays and a control system forcontrolling the light arrays. The light arrays are configured to be atleast partially embedded within a top layer of an athletic surface andoriented to emit light upwardly through the athletic surface. Forexample, when the athletic surface is boxing ring or MMA ring, the lightarrays may be embedded within a mat, pad, or other cushion layer of thering. A cover is then placed over the cushion and the embedded lightarrays so that light from the light arrays shines through the cover.When the athletic surface is a basketball court, the light arrays may bepartially embedded in a wood floor of the court so that they directlight upwardly through the wood floor.

In one embodiment, each light array comprises a plurality oflinearly-aligned light-emitting diodes (LEDs) or other lightsinterconnected by a power conductor. The light arrays may be of anylength and may be positioned at any desired intervals within the toplayer of the athletic surface. Each light array may further comprise oneor more light guides positioned adjacent each of the lights andextending upwardly through a portion of the athletic surface to directlight from the lights through the top layer of the athletic surface. Thelight guides may be fiberoptic strands, the length of which may be equalto the width of the top layer of the athletic surface.

The control system selectively controls activation of theabove-described light arrays to display team names, scores,advertisements, and other information on the athletic surface. Anembodiment of the control system comprises a main controller, a lightcontroller, and a switch. The main controller, which in one embodimentis a laptop computer or other personal or server computer, is used toinput texts, files, data, or other information related to information tobe displayed on the athletic surface. The light controller, which may beintegrated in the main controller or be a separate component, receivesthe data and/or instructions from the main controller and uses it toselectively control the light arrays. The light switch, which may alsobe integrated in the main controller and/or the light controller, isoperable to selectively switch power to the light arrays. The controlsystem may also include a video graphics processing unit (GPU).

The control system may be used to selectively activate particular lightarrays or even individual lights within the arrays to displayboundaries, team names, scores, time periods, and other information onthe athletic surface. The control system may also display still and/orvideo advertising on the athletic surface. The control system may alsobe programmed or operated to activate some or all of the light arrays ina blinking, periodic and/or wave fashion to indicate when points arescored, a match is over, or other notable events occur. Moreover, thecontrol system may vary the intensity, color, and duty cycle of thelight arrays and individual lights to provide moving or dynamicadvertising and other messages that more effectively captures viewers'attention.

The control system may also selectively activate the light arrays, andeven individual lights within each array, to display training aids onthe athletic surface. For example, the control system may displaystationary or moving Xs and Os on the athletic surface in accordancewith instructions from a coach, band director, etc. to demonstrate whereplayers, band members, or others should position themselves and moveduring plays, halftime shows, etc.

The present invention offers numerous advantages over conventionalmethods of displaying sports related information on or near an athleticsurface. For example, because the light arrays of the present inventionare embedded within the athletic surface and direct light upward throughthe athletic surface, they do not interfere with spectators' views ofthe athletic surface. Moreover, information or advertising rendered bythe light arrays can be easily seen by players, fans, and coacheswithout diverting their attention from the athletic surface.

The control system also permits advertising, messages, and otherinformation to be quickly changed and/or replaced so that many differentadvertisements and/or messages may be displayed during the course of asporting event. This allows companies to provide multiple differentadvertisements that may each be tailored to a time schedule and/orevents happening on the athletic surface. For example, advertising forfood and beverages may be displayed before half-time of a basketballgame to encourage more food and beverage sales during the game andadvertising for local restaurants or other establishments may bedisplayed near the end of the game to encourage fans to patronize theestablishments after the game. The ability to quickly and easily changethe advertisements also allows multiple different companies to displayadvertisements for short durations during a game so that eachadvertisement is less expensive.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described in the detailed descriptionbelow. This summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspectsand advantages of the present invention will be apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanyingdrawing figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

Embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below withreference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of components of a display system constructedin accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of one of the light arrays ofthe illumination system.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a floor of a boxingring, MMA ring, or similar athletic surface with a light array embeddedtherein.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the boxing ring with messages and otherinformation displayed on its floor with the display system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 5 is another perspective view of the boxing ring with messages andother information displayed on its floor with the display system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a floor of abasketball court or similar athletic surface with a light array embeddedtherein.

FIG. 7 is a top view of the basketball court in which a plurality oflight arrays have been installed.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the basketball court showing boundary lines andother markings displayed on its floor with the display system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 9 is a top view of the basketball court with scores and otherinformation displayed on its floor with the display system of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a top view of the basketball court with advertising displayedon its floor with the display system of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the basketball court with other informationdisplayed on its floor with the display system of the present invention.

The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specificembodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are notnecessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearlyillustrating the principles of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following detailed description of embodiments of the inventionreferences the accompanying drawings. The embodiments are intended todescribe aspects of the invention in sufficient detail to enable thoseskilled in the art to practice the invention. Other embodiments can beutilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of theclaims. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to betaken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention is definedonly by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich such claims are entitled.

In this description, references to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or“embodiments” mean that the feature or features being referred to areincluded in at least one embodiment of the technology. Separatereferences to “one embodiment”, “an embodiment”, or “embodiments” inthis description do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment and arealso not mutually exclusive unless so stated and/or except as will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art from the description. Forexample, a feature, structure, act, etc. described in one embodiment mayalso be included in other embodiments, but is not necessarily included.Thus, the present technology can include a variety of combinationsand/or integrations of the embodiments described herein.

Turning now to FIG. 1, the primary components of a display system 10constructed in accordance with an embodiment of the invention areillustrated. The system 10 may be used to display boundaries, teamnames, scores, advertisements, messages and other information on abasketball court, tennis court, boxing ring, MMA ring, or other indooror outdoor athletic surface. An embodiment of the display system 10broadly comprises a plurality of light arrays 12 and a control system 14for controlling the light arrays so as to display the above-mentionedinformation.

As described in more detail below, the light arrays 12 are configured tobe at least partially embedded within a top layer of the athleticsurface to emit light upwards through the athletic surface. For example,when the athletic surface is a boxing ring or an MMA ring, the lightarrays 12 may be embedded within a mat, pad, or other cushion placed ontop of the ring so that they direct light upwardly through a canvascover or other material placed over the cushion. Similarly, when theathletic surface is a basketball court, the light arrays 12 may bepartially embedded in a wood floor of the court so that they directlight upwardly through the wood floor. The control system 14 thenselectively controls activation of the lights within the light arrays 12to display boundaries, team names, scores, advertisements, and otherinformation on the athletic surface as described in more detail below.

In more detail, the light arrays 12 may include any light sourcesoperable to direct light upwardly through a top layer of an athleticsurface. An exemplary light array 12 is shown in FIG. 2 and comprises aseries of linearly-aligned and spaced-apart light-emitting diodes (LEDs)or other lights 16 connected by a flexible ribbon conductor or otherpower conductor 18. In one embodiment, the lights 16 are waterproof,ultra-high brightness, 6 watt, 24 volt, multi-color LEDs spacedapproximately 1″ apart along the length of the conductor 18. Each lightarray 12 may be of any length and contain any number of lights. In oneembodiment, each light array 12 is approximately 1-50 feet in length andcontains 10-500 lights 16.

The lights 16 and power conductor 18 may be mounted in a water-resistantprotective raceway or track 20 to keep the lights aligned and to protectthem from breakage. The raceway or track 20 has upper openings fordirecting light upwardly from the lights. In other embodiments, thelights 16 and power conductor 18 require no raceway or other protectiveenclosure.

Each light array 12 may further comprise one or more light guides 22extending upwardly above each of the lights 16 so as to direct lightfrom the lights 16. In one embodiment, the light guides 22 arefiberoptic strands approximately equal in length to a thickness of a toplayer of the athletic surface in which the light arrays are embedded asexplained in more detail below. In one embodiment, each fiberopticstrand is between 0.25 mm-0.75 mm in diameter and ¼″-1″ in length.

Any number of the above-described light arrays 12 may be embedded in thefloor of any athletic surface. For example, in embodiments illustratedin FIGS. 3-5, the light arrays 12 are embedded in the floor 23 of aboxing ring, MMA ring, or similar fighting ring 24. As best shown inFIG. 3, the floor 23 may consist of an underlying steel support frame26; a number of plywood sheets 28 or other material mounted on top theframe 26; a pad, mat, or other cushion layer 30 positioned on top theplywood sheets 28, and a canvas cover, tarp, or other covering 32 placedover the cushion layer 30. The floor 23 illustrated in FIG. 3 is just anexample of a floor in which the light arrays may be embedded and may bereplaced with other floor configurations without departing from thescope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the light arrays 12 are at least partially embeddedwithin the pad, mat, or other cushion 30 of the floor 23 so that thefiber optic strands 22 extend upwardly from the floor and terminate justbelow the top cover layer 32. The top cover layer 32 may be made oftransparent or translucent material to permit the light from the lightarrays to pass through it and seen by fans near the ring and viewerswatching an event in the ring on TV.

In one embodiment, the light arrays 12 are positioned below the entiresurface area of the floor 23 in a grid fashion. For example, the lightarrays may be positioned in the floor such that all the light arrays are1″ apart. The lights arrays 12 may also be spaced further apart and/orin smaller sections of the floor when it is not economically practicalto place them in every inch of the floor.

In another embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 6-11, a number ofthe light arrays 12 may be embedded in the floor 34 of a basketballcourt 36. The floor 34, which is shown in cross-section in FIG. 6, mayconsist of underlying wooden floor joists 38; and a number of woodenplanks 40 mounted on top the floor joists. The floor 34 may also includeplywood sheets or other materials between the floor joists 32 and thewooden planks 40. As with the boxing ring shown in FIG. 3, thebasketball floor 34 illustrated in FIG. 6 is just an example of a floorin which the light arrays 12 may be embedded and may be replaced withother floor configurations without departing from the scope of thepresent invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, holes are drilled in a grid fashion in the woodplanks 40 of the basketball floor 34. The light arrays 12 are securedbelow the wood planks 40 so that the LEDs 16 are aligned with the holesin the planks. In embodiments in which the light arrays include one ormore fiber optic strands 22 above each LED 16, the strands 22 extendupwardly though the holes and terminate just below the upper surface ofthe wooden planks 40. In embodiments in which the light arrays 12 do notinclude fiber optic strands, the LEDs 16 shine light upwardly though theholes. The tops of the holes in the wooden planks may be filled withtransparent or translucent material to prevent dirt and other debrisfrom falling in the holes while still permitting light from the LEDs topass through the holes.

The control system 14 selectively controls activation of the lightarrays 12 in the boxing ring 24 and/or basketball court 36 describedabove or other athletic surfaces to display boundaries, team names,scores, advertisements, and other information on the athletic surfaces.An embodiment of the control system 14 is illustrated in FIG. 1 andcomprises a controller 42 and one or more light switches 44.

The controller 42 is used to input information and other data to bedisplayed on the athletic surface. For example, an operator may inputscores, team names, etc, into the controller. This data may then be usedto control the light arrays. The controller 42 may include a maincontroller and a separate or integrated light controller. In oneembodiment, the controller is a laptop or server computer that includesa video graphics processing unit (GPU). In other embodiments, thecontroller 42 is a scoreboard controller used to control a scoreboard.For example, the controller may be a Daktronics All Sport 1600, 5000, or5500 series scoreboard controller.

The controller 42 may be positioned anywhere, such as in an elevatedpress box or office, and may be operated by an official or otherauthorized person. The controller 42 may communicate with the switchesover a wired or wireless data link. In an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, the controller sends signal to the switches 44 over anencrypted and redundant wireless RF data channel or channels.

The controller 42 may implement an LED control software such as LedEditor 9.0 software available from XIXUN. The controller 42 and/or othercomponents of the control system 14 may also include a rheostat or otheradjustment mechanism for adjusting an intensity of the light arrays 46.

The light switches 44 are electrically connected between the controller42, the light arrays 12, and a power source 46 and are operable toselectively switch power to the light arrays 12 under the direction ofthe controller 42. The light switches 44 may be integrated in thecontroller 42 or may be separate components that communicate with thecontroller 42 over a wired or wireless data link.

The power source 46 may be any electrical supply or connection thatdelivers electricity to the light switches 44 and light arrays 12.

The present invention may also comprise one or more computer programsstored in or on computer-readable medium residing on or accessible bythe controller 42. Each computer program preferably comprises an orderedlisting of executable instructions for implementing logical functions inthe controller. Each computer program can be embodied in anynon-transitory computer-readable medium for use by or in connection withan instruction execution system, apparatus, or device, such as acomputer-based system, processor-containing system, or other system thatcan fetch the instructions from the instruction execution system,apparatus, or device, and execute the instructions. In the context ofthis application, a “computer-readable medium” can be any non-transitorymeans that can store the program for use by or in connection with theinstruction execution system, apparatus, or device. Thecomputer-readable medium can be, for example, but not limited to, anelectronic, magnetic, optical, electro-magnetic, infrared, orsemi-conductor system, apparatus, or device. More specific, although notinclusive, examples of the computer-readable medium would include thefollowing: an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portablecomputer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory(ROM), an erasable, programmable, read-only memory (EPROM or Flashmemory), an optical fiber, and a portable compact disk read-only memory(CDROM).

The above-described control system 14 may be used to selectivelyactivate particular light arrays 12, or even individual lights withinthe arrays, to display boundaries, team names, scores, advertisements,and other information on any of the above described athletic surfaces.For example, the control system 14 may indicate the round of a boxingmatch and display boxing graphics on the boxing ring floor 23 as shownin FIG. 4. The control system 14 may also display advertisements on theboxing ring floor 23 as shown in FIG. 5. The control system 14 may alsodisplay boundaries and markers on the basketball court floor 34 as shownin FIG. 8 and/or team names, scores, and game clock information on thebasketball court floor as shown in FIG. 9. The control system 14 mayalso display advertisements on the basketball court floor as shown inFIG. 10 and/or shot clock information on the basketball court as shownin FIG. 11.

The video GPU of the control system 14 may also receive videoadvertising files from any source and vary the intensity, color, andduty cycle of the light arrays 12 and individual lights 16 within thearrays to provide moving or dynamic advertising on the boxing ring floor23 or basketball court floor 34. In some embodiments, the light arraysmay be activated in the same manner that digital pixels of televisionscreens are activated to simulate video advertisements.

Moreover, the control system 14 allows the advertising to be quicklychanged and/or replaced with other advertising so that many differentadvertisements may be displayed during the course of a game. This allowscompanies to provide multiple different advertisements that may each betailored to a time schedule and/or events happening on the athleticsurface. For example, advertising for food and beverages may bedisplayed before half-time of a basketball game to encourage more foodand beverage sales during the game and advertising for local restaurantsor other establishments may be displayed near the end of the game toencourage fans to patronize the establishments after the game. This alsoallows multiple different companies to display advertisements for shortdurations during a game so that each advertisement is less expensive.

The control system 14 may also selectively activate the light arrays 12,and even individual lights within each array, to display training aidson the athletic surface. For example, the control system 14 may displaystationary or moving Xs and Os on the athletic surface in accordancewith instructions from a coach, band director, etc. to demonstrate whereplayers, band members, or others should position themselves and moveduring plays, halftime shows, etc.

Although the invention has been described with reference to thepreferred embodiment illustrated in the attached drawing figures, it isnoted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made hereinwithout departing from the scope of the invention as recited in theclaims. For example, the specific light arrays and control systemdescribed herein may be replaced with other light and control systemswithout departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention, what isclaimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent includesthe following:
 1. A system for displaying information on an athleticsurface, the system comprising: a plurality of spaced-apart light arraysconfigured to be embedded within a top layer of the athletic surface,each of the light arrays comprising: a plurality of multi-color LEDlights interconnected by a power conductor; and at least one fiber opticstrand positioned adjacent each of the lights and extending upwardlythrough the top layer of the athletic surface to direct light from theLED lights through the athletic surface; and a control system forselectively controlling activation of the light arrays to provideilluminated messages on the athletic surface.
 2. The system of claim 1,wherein the illuminated messages are selected from the group consistingof advertisements, scores, team names, player statistics, and game clockinformation.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the control systemincludes an adjustment mechanism for adjusting an intensity of the LEDs.4. The system of claim 1, wherein the LED lights are surface mountdisplay LED lights.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the control systemincludes a video graphics processing unit operable to control activationof the light arrays to display video graphic advertising on the athleticsurface.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the athletic surface is aboxing ring, MMA ring, basketball court, or tennis court.
 7. A systemfor displaying information on an athletic surface, the systemcomprising: a plurality of spaced-apart light arrays configured to beembedded within a top layer of the athletic surface, each of the lightarrays comprising: a plurality of LED lights interconnected by a powerconductor, and at least one fiber optic strand positioned adjacent eachof the lights and extending upwardly through the top layer of theathletic surface to direct light from the lights through the top layerof the athletic surface; and a control system for selectivelycontrolling activation of the light arrays to display advertising on theathletic surface, wherein the control system includes a video graphicsprocessing unit that activates and deactivates individual lights withinthe arrays to frequently change an appearance of the advertising.
 8. Thesystem of claim 7, wherein the fiber optic strands are approximatelyequal in length to a thickness of the top layer of the athletic surface.9. The system of claim 7, wherein the light arrays each include araceway attached to a subfloor below the top layer of the athleticsurface.
 10. The system of claim 7, wherein the control system isoperable to adjust an intensity, duty cycle, and color of the lights.11. The system of claim 7, wherein the LED lights are surface mountdisplay LED lights.
 12. The system of claim 7, wherein the videographics processing unit is operable to control activation of the lightarrays to display video graphic advertising on the football field. 13.The system of claim 7, wherein the athletic surface is a boxing ring,MMA ring, basketball court, or tennis court.
 14. A method of displayingadvertising on a basketball court, the method comprising: installing aplurality of light arrays under a top layer of the basketball court,each of the light arrays comprising a plurality of LED lights; drillingholes in the top layer of the basketball court above the LED lights sothat light from the LED lights is directed out of the holes and upwardlyfrom the top layer of the basketball court; and selectively controllingactivation of the LEDs to display illuminated messages on the basketballcourt with light from the LEDs that passes through the holes in the toplayer of the basketball court.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein theilluminated messages are selected from the group consisting ofadvertisements, scores, team names, player statistics, and game clockinformation.
 16. A method of displaying advertising on a fighting ring,the method comprising: embedding a plurality of light arrays in apadding layer that is then placed on the fighting ring, each of thelight arrays comprising a plurality of LED lights; covering the paddinglayer with a covering layer so that light from the LED lights can beseen through the covering layer; and selectively controlling activationof the LEDs to display illuminated messages on the fighting ring withlight from the LEDs.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the illuminatedmessages are selected from the group consisting of advertisements,scores, team names, player statistics, and game clock information.